Dual purpose furniture



Nov. 23, 1954 H. P. DONER 2,694,814-

DUAL PURPOSE FURNITURE Filed March 5, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet l HOWARD R DOA/ER I :wwfi- A wa Nov. 23, 1954 H. P. DONER DUAL PURPOSE FURNITURE Filed March 5, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 HOWARD P. DOA/ER Nov. 23, 1954 H. P. DONER 2,694,314

DUAL PURPOSE FURNITURE Filed March 5, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 HOWARD DONER United States Patent DUAL PURPOSE FURNITURE Howard P. Boner, Whitby, Ontario, Canada,.assignor to Harry Sklar, Joseph Sklar, and Samuel Sklar Application March 5, 1952, Serial No. 274,868

6 Claims. (Cl. -47) This invention relates to folding dual purpose furniture such as chesterfields or chairs.

Various constructions of folding dual purpose'chesterfields have been known over aperiod of time and which generally involve a movable seat and movable back such that when they are swung relatively to one another, they may be finally disposed in horizontal juxtaposed position to form a bed.

In the bed thus provided, the user lies longitudinally on the mattress with his head adjacent one arm of the chesterfield and his feet adjacent the other so that the overall length of the bedforming the part between the arms must be at least six feet to accommodate the average person. Therefore, the chesterfield including the arms, must be made substantially longer than this. This is a distinct disadvantage, having regard to present-day conditions and small houses and apartments where it is impossible to employ such a largechesterfield. The only practical alternative is to employ a chesterfield having extremely narrow arms which tend to change completely the appearance of this article offurniture and which is not acceptable to a large majority of people.

Proposals have also been made to provide armchairs, elements of which may be moved'finally to provide a single bed. In most cases, however, .these chairs are bulky and the bed provided is disposed between the arms so that a relatively bulky chair is necessary in the first instance.

The present invention obviates the difficulties arising with such prior furniture by providing a folding dual purpose chesterfield'or chair of normal and desirable appearance employing arms of substantial width and subject to modem or conventional styling according .to demand, while making it possible to reduce the overall length of the chesterfield or the width of the chair, which articles of furniture can be accommodated in small rooms. This smaller chesterfield will, notwithstanding, provide a bed of practical length, while the chair will provide a bed of practical width.

According to the invention, folding dual purpose furniture in the form of a chesterfield or chair is provided, which includes a base having a seat and back as movable members operatively connected and swingable on the base to dispose the back and seat in horizontal juxtaposed position, thus to form a bed, the chesterfield or chair including a pair of arms supported on the base, the arms being of a substantial width approximating that of a conventional chesterfield or chair, with means operatively connecting between said arms and one of said members and the base framework for lowering said arms as said members are swung from normal position to bed forming position whereby the upper surfaces of said arms are disposed flush with and form a substantially contiguous part of the bed surface. a practical length single bed from a chair of this general construction, the proposal contemplates the use of a chair and a separate footstool combination whereby the footstool can be disposed at the end of the bed surface formed by collapsing the chair so that the length of the bed surface is extended to reasonably practical proportions.

The invention will be clearly'understood by-reference to the following detailed specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a. perspective view of a chesterfield according to the present invention;

To provide for "ice ture for moving the arms to bed forming position;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectional detail of one end of the chesterfield taken along the line 44 of Figure 3 to show the mounting of the arms;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary detail of conventional hinging mechanism connecting the back and seat, showing the parts in an intermediate position as they move from seat forming to bed forming position;

Figures 6 to 9. are schematic end views of the chesterfield to illustrate the manner in which it is operated from upright to bed forming position;

Figures 10 to 13 illustrate schematic end views, partly in section, of an alternative form of operative means for displacing the arms of the chesterfield from upright to bed forming position;

Figure 14 is an end elevation of a two section mattress designed to form the seat and back of a chesterfield or chesterfield chair.

Referring to the drawings, A indicates a bed chesterfield according to the present invention having the base framework B and movable bed forming members C and D which constitute the back and seat respectively. Mounted also in conjunction with the framework B and vertically movable in co-relation to the movement of the back and seat C and D, are the arms E. The movable seat member D and back member C are connected in'well-known manner by a well-known hinging means, illustrated in Figure 5, to cause these members to swing relatively to one another so that the back member C may be swung from its fixed upright position (Figure l) to horizontal bed forming position (Figure 2) so far as the members C and D are concerned.

A detailed description of this generally conventional hinging action is not deemed to be necessary, it being sufficient to indicate that the hinging mechanism employs a bracket 10 fastened to the framework B, arms 11' and 12 swingably mounted on bracket 11) and pivotally connected respectively at their opposite ends, to hinge bracket 12a and the hinge pivot 13 connecting the hinge bracket 12a with the hinge bracket 14, the former being rigidly connected to the back member C and the latter rigidly connected to the seat member D. This mechanism also includes a latching locking member 15 designed to detachably lock on a U-fixture 15a. A shoulder formed in the member 15 at the end of the notch 15b normally engages the lower arm of U fixture 15a as shown. This looks the hinge brackets 12a and 14 in the angular position shown and serves to retain the back rigidly in its upright position and the member 15' can be dislodged by movement of the seat member D. Thus as the seat is swung upwardly from its normal position (Figure 1) the hinge bracket 14 swinging also will, through the member 15, cause hinge bracket 12a to swing rearwardly and the arms 11 and 12 will swing forwardly, the hinge brackets 14 and 12a remaining connected as a unit in this swinging operation until the back moves to its lowermost position such as shown in Figure 8. At this point, further movement of the seat D will cause the bracket 14 to pivot on the pivot, point 13 thus pulling the arm 15 to the right as shown in Figure 5 until the pawl 15c of well known character, engages the lower arm of the U fixture 15a which will then permit the seat D to be lowered and the pawl 15c momentarily will prevent the shoulder of member 15 from engaging the lower arm of the U fixture but would cause it to ride thereover, thus permitting the hinge bracket 14 and consequently the seat D to swing until the seat reaches its lowermost horizontal position aligned with the back C as shown in Figure 2. During the course of this operation, the arms 11 and 12 swinging forwardly will cause the back and seat to shift transversely of the frame in effect substantially to centre these parts on the frame as they reach the bed forming position. To resume normal position, it is only necessary to raise the seat until the member 15, sliding back through the U-shaped fixture, reaches a point when the recess 15b thereof will drop over the lower arm of the U fixture a which will then cause the shoulder thereof again 'to engage this lower arm and when the seat is swung downwardly back to normal position the back will be caused also to swing with it back to the normal upright seating position. The hinging construction also includes a spring 16 which tends to assist the easy swinging movement of the back member C from its upright to its horizontal position when the locking lever 15 has been unlatched by preliminary movement of the seat member D. This conventional hinging construction is employed at each end of the chesterfield framework connecting between the base frame B and the back member C and seat member D just inwardly of each of the arms E. For the sake of clarity, however, it is not shown in Figure 4 or any of the illustrations except in Figure 5. This construction has been employed in ordinary dual purpose folding chesterfields and is likewise employed in the'present structure to perform these function but does not constitute a part of this invention except in respect of a suitable means for hingedly connecting the back C and seat D as part of a combination to provide an operative structure which will achieve the purpose of the present invention.

According to the present invention, the seat member D may be recessed inwardly as at 17 at each end so that the overall length of the seat cushions between the arms E is substantially less than that which would be required to permit an average tall person to lie longitudinally on the seat member between the arms E. The recessing of the seat member, however, is such that the forward part of the seat member D is preferably left the same length as the frame B by providing in effect the extension Wings 18. Sufficient clearance, of course, is left between the arms and seat and the seat and back, such as shown between the seat and arm (Figure 4), to permit relative movement of these parts without engagement or frictional contact'therebetween which would interfere with practical operation.

On the ends of the frame B, a supplementary arm supporting framework 19 is provided and which may be considered as part of the frame B. This supplementary supporting framework 19 embodies a pairof spaced apart rigidly supported parallel guides 20 which incline downwardly and forwardly (Figure 3) from a point above, and intermediate the front and rear of, the chesterfield frame down to a point adjacent the front and below the top of said frame. These guides are designed to receive, in guideways 20a, the ends of a guide pin 21 or other means projecting from each side of an intermediate bar 22 of the framework 23 of each arm E, the arms in each case being formed from a skeleton framework comprised by a top member 24 on which the padding or the like 25, of each arm is mounted, relatively long side-frame portions 26 and relatively short side-frame pieces 27 which latter are spaced from the side-frame pieces 26 in parallel relation thereto. In other words, the side-frame pieces 26 and 27 are arranged in parallel spaced apart relation a distance sufficient in effect to straddle the guides 20 when the arm is moved vertically downward while the side-frame pieces 26 are of such length that the bottom thereof will be disposed adjacent to the floor and the side-frame pieces 27 disposed substantially on the top of the frame-work B when the arms are lowered and this will leave the top of the arms flush with the top of the seat D when the chesterfield is swung to bed forming position as will clearly appear hereinafter.

The intermediate bar 22 which is spaced directly downward from and parallel to the top member 24 of the arm framework is rigidly supported in position in any suitable way such as by the vertical uprights 28 which extend between the bar 22 and the top member 24 of the arm framework. The back member C of the chesterfield has projecting from its frame at each end, the horizontal extension arm 29 which may form an integral part of the basic framework of the back member C. This extension 29 projects laterally from the back into the skeleton framework 26 of the arm and, as shown particularly in Figure 3, is connected with the intermediate bar 22 by means of the compound hinge member 30. This comprises the double pivots 31 and 32 with the intervening hinge strap pieces. Moreover, a tension spring 33 is interposed between one of the vertical members 28 and the extension 29 to facilitate proper return movement of the arms in ratio to the return movement of the seat when the folding chesterfield is changed from a'bed back to a seat. It should be noted that the pivot 31 of the hinge is designed to permit the swinging strap member thereof to swing in an anti-clockwise direction in one stage of movement and to swing in a clockwise direction in another stage of movement so that the hinge in effect folds on itself whereby two of the strap members are designed substantially to overlie the third strap member when the chesterfield is in bed forming position. This will be apparent from a description of the operation which now follows:

For the sequence of operation, reference is made to Figures 6 to 9. In the first stage of operation, the seat member D is raised which, through the conventional hinge mechanism shown in Figure 5, causes the back member C to start to swing backwardly as shown in Figure 6. Further movement of this nature as shown in Figure 7, causes the back to swing to a further degree but during this movement it will be noted that the compound hinge member 31 connected with the extension 29 of back member C will cause the arm E (each arm) to move forwardly and downwardly since the guide pins 21 are caused to ride downwardly in the guideways 20a -'of the guides 20. Therefore, the arms commence to lower as well as slide forwardly of the frame B as the strap member of hinge 30, disposed between the pivots 31 and 32, swings in an anti-clockwise direction. As the upward motion of the seat D is continued, the back 'member C approaching horizontal position is moving forwardly and this causes the hinge to pivot on its pivot 32 and moves the strap, between pivots 32 and 31, forwardly to commence to overlie the strap of the hinge connected to the intermediate bar 22. In effect, therefore, the compound hinge substantially collapses on itself completely by the time the back member C is swung to horizontal position and moved at the same time in a direction forwardly of the frame B until it reaches its final position such as shown in Figure 8. At this point, the arm E (each arm) has moved to its lowermost position with its forward end substantially flush with the front of the framework B as shown. However, the arms may be caused to move forwardly beyond the front Ioflhe frame B depending upon the design of the chester- As a means to locate the arms E in their lowermost position, the bottom of the side frame 27 may be caused to engage the top of the frame B or this may be brought about by the guide pins 21 engaging the lower end of the guideways 20a, in either case to locate the top of the arm cushions flush with the plane in which the top of the seat member D is finally disposed. Substantially when the back member C reaches horizontal position, the locking bar 15 is disengaged from the hinge mechanism connecting the back member 'C and seat member D so that the seat member in the position shown in Figure 8 then may be swung downwardly to the position shown in Figure 9 and the wings 18 of the seat will then be disposed forwardly of the framework B and just beyond the front ends of the arms E but substantially contiguous thereto (see Figure 2). I

It should be mentioned at this point also that in this form of construction, the rearward portions of the arms E are recessed as at 34 designed in the upright position of the chesterfield to overlap the forward, end-edge of the upright back member C (Figure 1) and when the chesterfield is moved to bed forming position, the lower corner and a portion of the end and side wall of the back member C will be disposed within each recess 34 of arms E. Accordingly, in the collapsed position, a bed of substantial length-is provided wherein the top of thearms form a contiguous part of the bed and are disposed flush with thebed surface. It is but a simple matter to return the bed thus formed to a normal chesterfield merely by raising the seat member D which, through the hinge structure, will cause the locking bar again to latch connecting the back member and seat member (Figure 5) thus causing these two elements to return to their normal position as the seat is returned to normal position.

The advantages of such a structure will be apparent when considering that in an ordinary bed chesterfield, to accommodate an average tall person, it is necessary to provide a seating area of, at least 6 feet between the arms so that the overall length of the chesterfield, including the arms, would be approximately 7 feet 4 inches.

However, with the present invention, the length of the seat can be reduced to 4 feet 8 inches and the overall length of the chesterfield including the arms would be approximately 6 feet 2 inches so that a bed formed from it has a surface 6 feet long. Conversely, a chesterfield having a seat length of 6 feetcan, according to the present invention, produce a bed approximately 7 feet 4 inches in length.

In the foregoing, a dual purpose chesterfield construction and its advantages has been described, but it should be obvious that by employing the same principle,a chair employing movable arms can be collapsed to form a single bed. It has not been deemed necessary to illustrate the chair since a consideration of Figures 1 and 2 will readily illustrate this modified form. In other words, if the chesterfield shown is reduced in length to the proportions of an armchair and by employing the same mechanism, the back and seat of the chair as well as the arms, can be moved to the position shown in Figure 2. In this instance, however, it would be necessary to employ a footstool with the chair and dispose the footstool preferably in contiguous relation to the front edge of the seat member, thus to give the desired overall length wherein the user would lie horizontally across the seat and back cushions rather than longitudinally with them as in the case of a double bed.

An alternative form of construction is shown in Figures 10 to 13 wherein the arms are actuated by a different mechanism. In this respect, a longitudinal bar 35 of the arm framework pivotally connects at one end with a link 36 which in turn at its opposite end pivotally connects with a suitable bracket 37 anchored to the framework of the back member C. At the opposite end, the arm 35 is pivotally connected with a link 38 which, in turn, at its opposite end is pivotally mounted as at 39 on the framework B of the chesterfield or chair. As a result, therefore, by employing the same type of hinge mechanism as shown in Figure 5, a similar action will result by raising the seat D and following through the operation as described generally in respect of Figures 6 to 9, so that the bar 35 and link members 36 and 38 will move to the position shown and finally form the bed schematically illustrated in Figure 13.

While in Figure 1, a style of chesterfield is shown wherein the seat employs the wings 18 which extend in front of the arms E to the end of the frame B, other forms of structure might be employed.

While in Figure 1 the back C and seat D are shown as two independent units, it will be obvious, of course, as shown in Figure 14, that these members may be connected such as by a webbing 41 constituting in effect the covering for the top surfaces of the two sections of the mattress to produce a hinged effect. Thus, when moved to the bed forming position, a mattress having a continuous uninterrupted top surface is provided.

It is clear from the foregoing that the structure described will provide a normal chesterfield of relatively small dimensions while providing a very practical bed of larger dimensions to meet all practical purposes and wherein the arms of normal chesterfield size will act to supplement the length of the bed formed or, in the case of a chair, will act to supplement the width of the bed where necessary. This is the preferred form of structure made up of relatively few parts and economic of construction. It will be appreciated, however, that some modifications may be made in the arrangement and construction of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention and that it is not intended the foregoing description shall be interpreted in a limiting sense other than those limitations imposed by the appended claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. Folding dual purpose furniture in the form of a chesterfield or chair comprising in combination: a base framework having a seat and back as movable members mounted thereon, operatively connected and movable on said framework from a seat forming position to dispose the back and seat in horizontal juxtaposed bed forming position, arm means provided with an upper surface and disposed at a side of said seat member, means connecting said arm means to said framework for movement of said arm means only in a vertical plane, said arm means extending transversely with respect to the front of said seat member and, in seat forming position, extending above the upper surface of said seat member, means operatively connecting one of said members with said tion whereby saidupper surface of said arm means is disposed substantially flush with the surface of the bed to form a supplementary and substantially contiguous part thereof.

2. Folding dual purpose furniture as claimed in claim 1 in which the operative connecting means between one of said members and said arm means comprises: a foldable hinge connection between the back and a rearward portion of said arm means, and said means connecting said arm means to said framework comprises an inclined guideway mounted on the end of said frame adjacent the front thereof and inclining upwardly and rearwardly from the front portion of the frame and means in connection with said arm means projecting into said guideway and movable downwardly and upwardly in said guideway as said members are swung to and from bed forming position to guide said arm means downwardly and forwardly and upwardly and rearwardly, respectively.

3. Folding dual purpose furniture as claimed in claim 1 in which the operative connecting means between one of said members and said arm means comprises: a first link, pivotally connected at one of its ends to the back member adjacent and end thereof and pivotally connected at its opposite end, to said arm means and adjacent one end of the latter, and said means connecting said arm means to said framework comprises a second link pivotally connected at one end to the frame, the opposite end thereof being pivotally connected to said arm means adjacent the opposite end of the latter, said first link acting to swing said arm means downwardly and forwardly and upwardly and rearwardly respectively as one of said members is swung from normal to bed forming position and vice versa.

4. Folding dual purpose furniture in the form of a chesterfield or chair comprising in combination: a base framework having a seat and back as movable members mounted thereon, operatively connected and movable on said framework from a seat forming position to dispose the back and seat in horizontal juxtaposed bed forming position, arm means provided with an upper surface and disposed at a side of said seat member, means connecting said arm means to said framework for movement of said arm means only in a vertical plane, said arm means extending transversely with respect to the front of said seat member and, in seat forming position, extending above the upper surface of said seat member, means operatively connecting one of said members with said arm means to move the latter downwardly and forwardly relative to said framework as said back member is moved from seat forming position to bed forming position whereby said upper surface of said arm means is disposed substantially flush with the surface of the bed to form a supplementary and substantially contiguous part thereof.

5. Folding dual purpose furniture in the form of a chesterfield or chair comprising in combination: a base framework having a seat and back as movable members mounted thereon, operatively connected and movable on said framework from a seat forming position to dispose the back and seat in horizontal juxtaposed bed forming position, arm means provided with an upper surface and disposed at a side of said seat member, means connecting said arm means to said framework for movement of said arm means only in a vertical plane, said arm means extending transversely with respect to the front of said seat member and, in seat forming position, extending above the upper surface of said seat member, the latter having a cut-out portion at the side adjacent to said arm means, a part of said arm means fitting within the cut-out portion of said seat, means operatively connecting one of said members with said arm means to move the latter downwardly and transversely relative to said framework as said one member is moved from seat forming position to bed forming position whereby said upper surface of said arm means is disposed substantially flush with the surface of the bed to form a supplementary and substantially contiguous part thereof.

6. Folding dual purpose furniture in the form of a chesterfield or chair comprising in combination: a base framework having a seat and back as movable members mounted thereon, operatively connected and movable on said framework from a seat forming position to dispose the back and seat in horizontal juxtaposed bed forming position, arm means provided with an upper surface and disposed at a side of said seat member, means connecting said arm means to said framework for movement of said arm means only in a vertical plane and including an element having an inclined guideway to guide said arm means in said movement, said (arm means extending transversely with respect to the front of said seat member and, in seat forming position, extending above the upper surface of said seat member, means operatively connecting one of said members with said arm means to move the latter downwardly and transversely relative to said framework as said one member is moved from seat forming position to bed forming position whereby said upper 8 surface of said arm means is disposed substantially flush with the surface of the bed to form a supplementary and substantially contiguous part thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 524,720 Lawton Aug 21, 1894 932,264 Fountain Aug. 24, 1909 2,071,727 Blumenthal Feb. 23, 1937 2,294,475 McAllister Sept. 1, 1942 2,514,798 Rowe July 11, 1950 2,672,626 Watt Mar. 23, 1954 

